I recently had this wine at a celebratory lunch for my birthday. Rather than choose a fancy restaurant I decided to go with a family haunt and choose a wine that reminded me of days of old. I was surprised by how light and refreshingly zippy the wine was. It was floral with white flower notes and hints of pear and peach. It also had nice mineral notes which I enjoy and paired well with the Cesar salad, chicken, pasta and pizza that various members of our party ordered. The wine was an Orvieto Classico  called Campogrande from Santa Cristina. Orvieto is a wine I used to see my parents drinking in the 1970s as a child but haven’t spent much time thinking about since. I visit that beautiful city in the early 1990s but again, have spent little time thinking about or drinking the wines. While I can’t find the exact information on the Antinori website, it appears that they own Santa Cristina. An ancient Tuscan family, they certainly know how to make wine. The wine is made from 40% Procanico ( Trebbiano Toscano ), 40% Grechetto, 15% Verdello and 5% Drupeggio and Malvasia. It was a great summer wine and one I will seek out as it is also nicely priced.

A note about the denomination which was obtained in 1998, Orvieto is made from Trebbiano grapes (50-65%), Verdello (15-25%) and Drupeggio, Grechetto, Malvasia (20-30%) and in addition to the two distinctions Orvieto and Orvieto Classico, it is produced in three styles, dry, semi-sweet and sweet.

There is also a sweet wine made from late harvests in which the grapes have been attacked by the “muffa nobile” (noble mould). Umbria is a beautiful region and one that I have explored a bit but not as much as I would like to in recent years. Sipping this wine made me want to go back. Perhaps I will on my next trip. Salute!